10 x homosexuality through the ages

The Archaic Greek poet Sappho (630–570 BCE) celebrated her love of women in her work. The word ‘lesbian’ is derived from Lesbos, the island where Sappho lived – lesbianism sometimes also used to be called ‘Sapphic love’.

The Ancient Greek youth Antinous (approx. 110–130 CE) was the eromenos, or young male lover, of the Roman emperor Hadrian (76–138 CE). When Antinous died, Hadrian proclaimed him a god and had statues and temples placed throughout the Roman Empire in his honour.

Henry III of France (1551–1589) liked to surround himself with attractive, androgynously clothed men with whom he pursued intense relationships. His fondness for jewellery and transvestism led in part to accusations of sodomy.

The Swedish queen Christina (1626–1689) can rightly be described as a queer icon. Christina is regarded, to varying degrees, as a symbol for homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, transsexuality intersexuality and crossdressing.

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701), the brother of the French Sun King Louis XIV, had many open affairs with men. A flamboyant and exceptionally good-looking man with a penchant for wigs, jewellery and high heels, he was also an accomplished military commander.

The Prussian king Frederick the Great (1712–1786), who was almost certainly homosexual, drafted a law abolishing the death penalty for sodomy. The law was only enacted in 1794, eight years after his death.

The lives of the Dutch writers Betje Wolff (1738–1804) and Aagje Deken (1741–1804) are inextricably bound up with one another other. They wrote books together, and cohabited from 1777 until their deaths in 1804 – these closest of female friends died only nine days apart.

The Dutch artist and Second World War resistance fighter Willem Arondéus (1894–1943) was openly homosexual, which was very rare in the early part of the 20th century. Just before being executed he asked his lawyer to ‘Tell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weaklings.’

The celebrated Dutch author Gerard Reve (1923–2006) fiercely defended homosexuality in his 1963 book Op weg naar het einde (‘On the way to the end’). That year, he also became the first person to openly discuss his homosexuality on Dutch television.

While mayor of the city of Nijmegen, Ien Dales (1931–1994), who was lesbian, worked actively for gay emancipation. In 1993, when she was the Minister for the Interior, she was a passionate champion of the Equal Treatment Act, which ensures protection against discrimination.